One Priest Pleads Guilty, Another Still Faces Trial on Sex Charges

One Priest Pleads Guilty, Another Still Faces Trial on Sex Charges

Article excerpt

A priest in Nova Scotia has pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting an underage altar boy in the late 1970's, but the diocese will wait until he is sentenced before deciding how he will be disciplined.

Rev. Wayne Lynch, 49, rector of St. John's Church, Halifax, entered the guilty plea during a brief provincial court session in Liverpool court in late January.

The charge followed complaints from former Nova Scotia resident Glenn Johnson that the priest performed oral sex and masturbated him while he was 14 and 15 years old and serving as an altar boy on the province's South Shore.

In a separate case, a second priest, Rev. Michael Boyd, 47, rector of St. Andrew's Church, Hantsport, is also charged with indecently assaulting Mr. Johnson. His preliminary hearing is slated to begin on March 3 in Liverpool.

In an interview from Winnipeg where he now lives, Mr. Johnson said he's still struggling with the emotional fallout from the abuse by Fr. Lynch who was supposed to be a guiding force in his life.

"It's something that has affected every fibre of my being," he said. …